By Bockarie Allieu
FREETOWN, Aug 6 (SALONE TIMES) – The President of the National Olympic Committee 9(NOC) in Sierra Leone Dr. Patrick Coker has thanked the government for their relentless support to Sports in the country. The support he said is good and appreciative but the development of sporting facilities is also crucial. With more facilities constructed he said there is possibility to produce more qualified athletes for international Games and laurels will follow. He said for Sierra Leone athletes going to the Olympics Games, where all the big stars from the whole world, is yet a matter of participation. He went on that he is sure Sierra Leone will do well at the Commonwealth Games which have lesser participant. He though said Sierra Leone did not do well in the Tokyo 2020 Games but the athletes gained a lot of experience and got the exposure. Back home he said they will be calling all the Sports associations to a meeting to highlight the mistakes that happen in Japan and put mechanisms in place for proper registration of athletes for competitions. The registrations he said will be done by the Chef De Mission with the associations identifying their athletes in collaboration with NOC. On the issue of misinformation in the social medial during the games he said the NOC will be holding a press conference to clear the air on the Labrum Garment saga so that the public will know what the MOU was about and other things they raise concerning athletes in the social media. Before this time, he told his staff to concentrate on what they doing were in Tokyo for the Games but he said now that everything is over they were ready to inform the public at a press briefing.
The Secretary General of NOC Joseph Nyande told the athletes that currently over 100 athletes are now parking out of Japan for their respective countries. Majority of them he said is either they failed to qualify to the next stage or their own part is over. In this case he said in competitions you either win or you loss as such he said they should go back now and concentrate on their trainings for other competitions. He assured them that they at NOC will together always with the government to push for the development of Sports in the country. Go now together with your coaches and see where you went wrong in the competition and see how you can amend them for the upcoming competitions, he said. Nyande told the athletes to sum up courage and forge ahead as they are still young and have room for improvement. The COVID Liaison Officer Prince Sualley told them to now forget about their misfortune and think ahead for another day. He went on that no competition will be the same as such it will never be the same performance like what happen in Japan. Practice hard now and prepare for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year he said.
